Former India cricketer turned renowned commentator Aakash Chopra has said that India might have missed a trick by not adding experienced leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal to the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. Chopra stated that most of the T20 sides have a good leg-spinner and the ongoing marquee event has shown how useful they are for their respective team.
Notably, India chose Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy as leg-spinning for the tournament. While Chakravarthy has played in three matches but failed to take a single wicket, Chahar played the last game against Namibia and he too went wicketless. On the other hand, Yuzvendra Chahal had a great IPL 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), where he scalped 18 wickets in 15 matches which came at a strike rate of 17.66 and an economy rate of 7.05 as well.
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While speaking about the success of leg-spinners in the T20 World Cup 2021, Chopra said: “Leg-spinners are ruling the roost. Wanindu Hasaranga took a hat-trick, Adam Zampa claimed a five-for. Rashid Khan has been outstanding and Ish Sodhi has been very good. So most of the leg-spinners have come to the fore. Even when the ball has been wet, they have been able to make an impact. That’s the beauty of leg-spinners.”
He again shared: “Looking at the great performances made me wonder whether India erred by not picking (Yuzvendra) Chahal. If he was there, 100% he would have played. But because we chose Rahul Chahar ahead of him, we decided to give the first chance to Varun Chakravarthy in the playing XI. Then we played (Ravichandran) Ashwin, which is not a bad idea. But the fact is if Chahal was there, he would have been your original choice. The way leg-spinners have performed, maybe we missed a trick. Leg-spinners usually do well in T20 cricket.”
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However, India has failed to qualify for the semi-finals and they have played their last match in the T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia in Dubai on Monday. Although they registered another convincing win, their successive defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand cost them the semi-final berth.
